Columnists

Later this year, the European Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapists (EABCT) will hold its annual conference in Jerusalem - or, as the official conference website put it, "Jerusalem, Israel." There's nothing out of the ordinary about this arrangement.

Last week the US Supreme Court ruled a law passed by Congress 13 years ago was unconstitutional. This enactment sought to give US parents of children born in Jerusalem the right to obtain for their offspring passports indicating the children had been born in Israel. But on June 8, the Justices of the Supreme Court "struck down" this law.

On May 19, the Charedi website "Behadrey Haredim" carried a report to the effect that rabbinical and other authorities of the Belz Chasidim in London had the previous day given written instructions, in Hebrew, that - unless exempted by a "special committee" - 1a>females of the Belz species were forbidden to drive motor vehicles1b>, and that, if any Belz mother was found after Rosh Chodesh Ell

Is there something particularly twisted about American rabbis? Over the past few months, American Jewry has been left reeling by a string of disgusting scandals involving its best-known modern Orthodox leaders.

What with one thing and another, I followed the spring furore over the 1a>"Israel" symposium at Southampton University1b> only rather loosely. It was obvious to me from surveying those invited to speak - including the ridiculous conspiracy theorist, Richard Falk - that this event was not a scholarly attempt to explore "International Law and the State of Israel".

Even before the Conservative election victory had been confirmed, Israeli government spokespersons were welcoming the likelihood of David Cameron retaining the keys to 10 Downing Street. Mr Netanyahu had apparently already congratulated Cameron on his "impressive victory".

Asher was the eighth son of Jacob and the progenitor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Some 22 years ago Colin McArthur and his wife, Karen, in setting up a bakery in Newtownabbey, outside Belfast, decided to name it after this biblical personage.

Imagine entering "Auschwitz" into an online search engine and finding on the first page of results a site claiming that the gas chambers were a myth. Imagine the confusion of a schoolchild doing a history project if they were to do the same.